Lending Library
by mascaret
Summary: At his wife's behest, a young Lord Grantham attempts to exert his relatively newfound authority ... over his mother.
1. Chapter 1

_Lending Library_

A/N Inspired by the Season 1 exchange :

 _Matthew Crawley_ : The question is, what do I say to Cousin Violet?  
 _Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham_ : Oh, don't worry about that. I can handle her.  
 _Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham_ : [ _Violet enters the room_ ] Really? Well if you can, you must have learned to *very* recently. 

Not a crack fic. Any resemblance to crack fic is purely coincidental.

 _Chapter 1_

"It's not in the spot it should be and it hasn't been signed out. Pakison searched the whole library to see if it might have been put back in the wrong spot, but it hasn't turned up. He has no idea where it might be."

"I was really looking forward to reading that book." Cora pouted.

"We can order another copy." Robert suggested.

"That's hardly the point, Robert."

"I know." He agreed.

"That book didn't grow legs and walk away on its own."

"I know." Robert repeated.

"Well what are you going to do about it?" Cora prompted him.

With a sigh, Robert stood and headed to the bell pull.

When their butler arrived, Robert reluctantly spoke up. "It seems we may have a problem with one of the staff."

Impossibly, Carson stood straighter. "Oh?"

"Mr. Doyle's latest has gone missing from the library. I'd like you to have a talk with the staff tonight before their evening meal. If the book is returned by morning, no further inquires will be made."

"Robert! That's not good enough." Cora insisted. "It starts with a book. Then its a piece of silver here or there. Where does it end? The family jewels? Us murdered in our beds?"

"Cora, don't be melodramatic."

"It's not being melodramatic." Cora's hand went to the beads hanging around her neck. "To imagine a thief in the house!"

Defeated, Robert sighed. "I'd like you to arrange a search of the servant's rooms."

"That is a very serious step, milord."

"Yes, I know it is." Robert agreed.

"Begging your pardon, milord, but have you asked the Countess if she has it? She is very fond of mysteries."

"Don't be silly. Of course, I don't have it." Cora piped up.

Carson tilted his head in deference. "Begging your pardon, milady. Might the _Dowager_ Countess have taken it?"

"She hasn't signed it out." Cora pointed out.

Carson's and Robert's eyes met.

"Mama never filled out the ledger when Papa was alive."

"Why doesn't she fill out the ledger? _I_ fill out the ledger when I take out a book."

"Yes, well you are not my mother, Cora."

At her glare, he sighed. "You fill out the ledger out of habit because that's what my father told you to do when you first came here. He never made my mother and so out of habit, she doesn't."

"Why didn't he make your mother do it?" Cora asked.

"Cora, when have you ever seen _anyone_ make my mother do _anything_?"

"I'd like you to."

"What?"

"Make her sign out books."

"Don't be ridiculous, Cora."

"It's not ridiculous. Everyone else does it. Even _you_ do it. Why shouldn't she?"

"Because ... because ..."

As Robert struggled to put it to words, Carson – as always – came to his rescue. "Lady Grantham is coming to dinner tonight."

"Yes, she is." Robert agreed. "I'll ask her if she has it."

"And if she does?" Cora prompted him.

"Then that solves that mystery." Robert quipped.

"Robert." Cora said his name quite seriously.

"I'll ask her to return it."

"Robert." Cora repeated.

Sighing, Robert again relented. "I'll ask her to in the future sign out the books she takes."

Triumphant, Cora sat back.

 _tbc_

A/N Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

_Lending Library_

 _Chapter 2_

Despite several pointed looks from his wife, it wasn't until the entree that Robert broached the subject with Mama.

"We've had a bit of a drama – a mystery, if you will – the past few days, Mama. The whole household has been turned upside down looking for a missing item."

The Dowager Countess looked disapprovingly at her son. "When your father was alive we never had as much as a bottle of wine go missing. And do you know why?"

"Because people respected Papa." Robert answered.

"More pertinently -" His mother corrected him. "- they knew better than to cross him. The first time something went missing after he became Earl of Grantham, he found the thieves and he made an example of them."

Robert deciphered his mother's cryptic words for his wife. "He buried the robbers alive."

Cora glanced between her husband and her mother-in-law looking for the slightest hint that they might be having her on. Not finding any, she stated the obvious. "That seems rather excessive. Over a bottle of wine?"

"It wasn't over a bottle of wine." Lady Grantham sighed. "Just because I said not so much as a bottle of wine went missing doesn't mean it was over a bottle of wine."

Robert filled in the detail his wife was missing. "Grave robbers were plaguing the village cemetery."

Refusing to concede anything to her mother-in-law, Cora repeated herself. "I still think that response was excessive."

Tilting her head in her usual imperious manner, the Dowager Countess shot back tartly. "Perhaps it was, but on the other hand you might feel differently on the matter if it were your father to go missing."

Her mouth dropping open in an unladylike manner, Cora glanced to her husband.

Robert nodded morosely. "Body snatchers got Grandpapa."

Having succeeded in putting her daughter-in-law in her place, the Dowager Countess sounded almost wistful as she reminisced. "It happened before we were married but an example like that, you can be assured the villagers and the staff _never_ forgot it. It set the tone for his tenancy."

Back to business, she added. "When you find the culprit, you will need to make an example of him – and a harsh one at that."

For once, Cora agreed wholeheartedly with her mother-in-law, but Robert looked at his mother hesitantly.

"Now don't look at me like that, Robert. You know me – I'm a lamb. I don't suggest something quite that draconian, but if you make an example of the culprit the first time something happens you can ward off a great deal of trouble for the future."

"We're not entirely sure yet that there is a culprit to be found." Robert responded. "As it turns out, there might not actually be anything missing."

His mother looked at him impatiently. "Well is there or isn't there?"

Robert took a deep, bracing breath before pushing forward. "Mama, did you take the new Sherlock Holmes book out of the library?"

"Yes, I did, but don't change the subject."

"He didn't." Cora gloated.

 _tbc_

A/N Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

_Lending Library_

 _Chapter 3_

Catching on to the implication, the Dowager Countess lowered her fork. "Am I to be drawn and quartered?"

"No Mama, of course not."

Frostily, she responded. "I'm sorry, I did not realize that I lost library privileges along with my husband when he died."

"Well of course you are still welcome to use the library -"

"- How kind of you." Her voice dripping with sarcasm, his mother interrupted.

When Robert glanced her way, Cora gave a small nod of encouragement.

Bolstered, Robert continued. "- But I would appreciate it if you would sign out the books you take."

"Would you also like me to polish the sconces and wash the windows while I am in there?"

"No Mama."

"I thought perhaps since you are going to treat me like you would one of the servants -"

"- Mama!"

"Do you think I won't bring them back?"

"Of course not, Mama! It's just that we couldn't find it and Cora was worried sick that there might be a thief in the house."

With a not at all veiled look of disgust, Lady Grantham looked from her son to his wife. "While a good book is something to be treasured, surely you two do realize that if there were a thief in the house, they would take something more valuable, more marketable?"

"It's not _just_ that. Pakison spent an entire day searching through the library."

"Did he have something better he could have been doing with his time? Why on earth did you two feel the need to hire a full time librarian?! We don't own _that many_ books and the maids are the ones that dust the ones that we do have. What does he do all day?"

"That's not the point, Mama. It's that we had a lot of unnecessary drama the past few days over that book. If you had simply put your name in the ledger, we could have avoided all that."

"You could also have avoided _all that_ by simply asking me if I had it when you first decided it was missing."

Getting exasperated, Robert became somewhat glib with his mother. "Mama, I'm not asking you to leave collateral. Just write down the names of the volumes you take."

Cora's heart soared with pride listening to her husband put his foot down with his mother.

"I don't think that's unreasonable, Mama."

Lady Grantham stared down her son.

The silence at the table stretched out uncomfortably.

When Robert finally opened his mouth to break the silence, his mother beat him to it.

"Go to your room."

"Mama -"

"- _Go to your room_."

"Mama, I am the Earl of Grantham. You can no longer send me to bed without my supper like -"

"- Like I am your mother?" The Dowager Countess raised an eyebrow. " _Watch me._ Go to your room or I will have Carson take you there."

"- _Mama!_ Carson is _my_ butler now! You left him here for _me_! You said _I_ could keep him!"

Watching her husband put his foot down again and again Cora wasn't really feeling pride anymore. Catching his eye, she succeeded in getting him to refocus.

More calmly, Robert stated. "Mama, I am the Earl of Grantham! If you give Carson an order and I give him an order which of us do you think he will listen to?"

Crisply, his mother challenged him. "If you are so confident of the answer to that then stay here because we are about to find out!"

Finding her heart now in her throat, Cora dared a glance to their butler, but Carson gave no indication of which side he would fall on.

The Dowager Countess began. "Carson -"

Cora closed her eyes in frustration as her husband stood and throwing his napkin down on the table complied with his mother's order.

This was not at all how she had envisioned this evening going.

Opening them back up, she found her mother-in-law now staring at her.

"Don't think that I don't realize that this has your sticky fingerprints all over it."

 _tbc_

A/N Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

_Lending Library_

 _Chapter 4_

Cora closed her eyes in frustration as her husband stood and throwing his napkin down on the table complied with his mother's order.

This was not at all how she had envisioned this evening going.

Opening them back up, she found her mother-in-law now staring at her.

"Don't think that I don't realize that this has your sticky fingerprints all over it."

Steadfastly refusing to be chased from what was now _her_ dining room, Cora resisted her own urge to throw down her napkin and stomp out of the room.

For the remainder of the meal and through their after dinner drinks, neither Countess spoke a word to the other.

As the clock struck to signify the passing of another hour, Cora felt she had won a victory – however small – when Robert's mother was the first to speak.

"I do thank you for a lovely evening, but I really should be heading home."

At her mother-in-law's words, Carson gave a nod and left.

"I must say, Cora, your conversation skills are improving."

A _very_ small victory.

As her mother-in-law used her stick to stand, Cora stood as well.

Her voice full of insincere gaiety, the Dowager Countess offered. "Would you like to check my reticule before I leave or will you just ask Carson to count the silver that was at my place setting and send me a bill for any that cannot be accounted for?"

Refusing to take the bait and be drawn into a battle of words she knew she had no hope of winning, Cora said nothing. She did however give her mother-in-law her most withering glare.

The Dowager Countess seemed rather unimpressed with the attempt. To Cora's mind she looked almost amused.

Against her better judgment, Cora spoke. "I know where you live."

The Dowager Countess looked at her like she was a great curiosity.

"To find the silver you took. If you took any." Even Cora cringed as she tried to explain her own remark.

"Which you probably didn't." Cora admitted while again briefly closing her eyes in frustration.

Opening them, she again found her mother-in-law staring at her – this time pityingly. "That could _almost_ have seemed witty if it hadn't taken you so long to come up with it. And if you hadn't kept going."

Ruing having ever given in to the urge to open her mouth, Cora agreed. "I know."

Pity was soon replaced with disdain as her mother-in-law again began to dress her down. "Just because you are now Countess of Grantham does not mean that _I_ have stopped being Countess of Grantham. Robert may now be Lord Grantham, but I am _still_ his mother. I _know_ my place. I suggest you two work a little harder at figuring out yours."

The Dowager Countess waited, but this time Cora succeeded in biting her tongue.

"Now before I go, I think I will make a stop."

Cora clenched her fists watching the other Countess head for the library. Following and watching from the doorway as she perused the shelves, Cora realized with a start that her nails were digging into the palm of her hand.

Willing her fingers to relax, with a silent sigh of vexation, Cora stopped attempting to play the happy hostess and turned on her heel.

She headed straight for her husband's dressing room planning to tell him _exactly_ what she thought of him abandoning her to his mother.

 _tbc_

A/N Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

_Lending Library_

 _Chapter 5_

Entering her husband's dressing room, a furious Cora found her husband sitting on the bed staring down at the floor. He looked as though he had already received the thorough scolding she had been about to give him.

As he glanced her way, she found his eyes looked rather like those of an already wounded animal that was anticipating the next strike.

Tamping down her anger, Cora sat beside him on the bed. Focusing not on her husband's failure to follow through, but on his initial effort, she kissed him.

Pulling back, she told him. "That was very brave of you standing up to your mother like that."

Robert perked up. "It was, wasn't it?"

Cora forced a smile. Looking at her husband, it wasn't terribly hard to do.

"You know Cora, I was thinking ... technically Mama really should be out of half mourning by now. Perhaps when she comes to dinner we could invite a few other people. She tends to behave better when there are other people around."

"Does she?" Cora wasn't so sure.

"Well ... no, not really, but that way she won't have just us to focus on."

Cora would have preferred to just _not_ have her mother-in-law to dinner, but as she doubted her husband would view that as a viable option, she agreed.

Curious, Cora asked. "Did you really think Carson would take you to your room?"

"I didn't care to find out."

Cora had to admit that she was disappointed with that answer. "I know we've only had him for two years and he was with your mother for much longer than that -"

"- Cora, Carson has been with Mama longer than _I_ have. He has always been her favorite and he adores her." Robert marveled. "I _still_ can't believe that she didn't take him with her to the Dower House."

"But surely -"

"-It didn't seem worth the risk."

Cora realized. "Carson would have had to go! We wouldn't be able to keep him. If you had stayed and _if_ he had listened to your mother ..."

"Precisely." Robert agreed. "It hardly seemed fair to put poor Carson on the spot like that and it certainly didn't seem worth it to risk losing him over a battle that had already been fought and lost over thirty years ago."

Cora frowned. "And your mother knew that. She knew that either you would have to back down or she would leave with Carson. Either way she wins."

"Cora, Mama always wins."

"And there was no third option? One where Carson disobeyed her like you did?"

"Carson doesn't have a she-devil putting wicked ideas into his head as I do." Robert jested.

Cora gave him her most withering glare.

It was much more effective on him than it was on his mother.

More somberly, he answered. "Cora, _that_ would have been the absolute worst outcome."

"How so?" Cora asked.

"That would have broken Mama's heart."

Cora looked at her husband. With a sigh, she admitted. "You are a good son."

Taking her hand, Robert countered. "I'm trying to be a good husband. I have told you before, Cora - She is my mother. You are my wife. You are the mother of my children. I will always support you on the important things, but _this_ didn't seem to be one of them."

"You think I overstepped?" Cora asked.

"I think _we_ overstepped. In hindsight, it seems like a very petty thing to ask."

Cora didn't dispute it.

Robert lifted her hand to his lips before going back to his earlier idea. "Now ... for dinner next week ... which of our neighbors do you think would be the easiest pickings for Mama?" 

Cora chuckled and rested her head on her husband's shoulder.

 _tbc_

A/N Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	6. Chapter 6

_Lending Library_

 _Chapter 6_

"Allow me, milady."

Instead of just settling her coat on her shoulders for the short ride to the Dower House, Carson offered to take the book from Lady Grantham's hand so that she could put her arms through the sleeves of her coat.

Not in the least bit fooled, the Dowager Countess didn't take even a moment before commenting with a raised eyebrow and a hint of a smile. "Carson, you should have been a diplomat."

Relenting, she held out the book to him. Taking it, he set it on the nearby table without so much as a glance at it.

"Oh Carson, I don't envy you - having to put up with _that_ on a daily basis, but ..." She sighed before continuing. "... someone has to be here to look after Robert and my granddaughters."

"I manage, milady."

"Carson ..." As he moved behind her with her coat, concerned she asked him. "... Are they happy?"

"They are, milady." Carson assured her. "The late Lord Grantham chose well. They seem well-suited to each other."

"They are both ninnies." The Dowager Countess translated.

Carson hesitated before hedging. "I think that with time Lady Cora will learn to better pick her battles."

"Carson ..." More lightly, Lady Grantham inquired. "... what would you have done if my son hadn't gone of his own volition?"

As he slipped her coat on her, Carson answered. "I would have pointed out how unwell his Lordship was looking – because at that point he was looking very unwell, milady. Then I would have asked if he required any assistance in getting to his rooms where he would doubtlessly have been more comfortable."

"You certainly did miss your calling, Carson." The Dower Countess remarked warmly.

Picking back up the book to return it to her, he glanced at the spine. "Dostoyevsky. I believe you are in for a treat, milady."

"I am." Lady Grantham agreed. "I have read it before many a time."

"The classics never go out of style, milady."

"No, they don't. Goodnight Carson."

"Goodnight, Lady Grantham."

 _Epilogue to Follow_

A/N If you have made it this far please do let me know what you think.


	7. Chapter 7

_Lending Library_

 _Epilogue_

Glancing down at the ledger in the library in preparation for writing a new entry, Robert called to his wife triumphantly. "It seems while I may have lost the battle, I won the war after all last night."

He boasted. "Mama filled out the ledger."

Wearing a look of disbelief, Cora approached to have a look for herself.

"No, she didn't." Cora looked up at him irritated. "That's not your mother's handwriting. That's Carson's."

Cora frowned at him. "Don't you know your own mother's handwriting?"

"I do, but I had hoped that you didn't." Robert admitted.

Suppressing a sigh, Cora declared. "I'm heading upstairs."

As she started for the door with the book she had been reading still in her hand, Robert spoke up. "You didn't -"

Seeing his wife's glare, Robert stopped himself.

"No, I didn't and you aren't going to either! Not anymore! You are Lord Grantham! This is your house. This is your library! If you want a book, you take it! You answer to no one! Is that understood?"

"Yes, dear." Robert agreed.

 _Finis_


End file.
